Two Graphic Novels About Israel

Posted January 23, 2018 by shooting in Book Review / 24 Comments

Graphic Novels about Israel

I’d had Mike’s Place to read/review for awhile now, and How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less was something that I saw at one of my local libraries and decided to check out. I ended up reading them pretty close together, which worked out well since they both deal with Israel.

Mike’s Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv (book for review; all opinions are my own) by Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem is a nonfiction graphic novel about the making of a documentary. Jack and Joshua were doing said documentary on Mike’s Place, a bar that people could go to and not worry about politics or what is happening in the outside world. Unfortunately, while this was happening, two suicide bombers come to the bar and one of them detonated their bomb, harming and killing people hanging out at Mike’s Place.

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden, is another nonfiction graphic novel. This time, the book is about Sarah on a birthright trip to Israel. What I found fascinating is that Sarah actually mentions Mike’s Place in her book – she visited a few years after the bombing depicted in the graphic novel Mike’s Place. Sarah’s book is longer than Mike’s Place as it focuses on a lot of different places she visited, and people she met. She went to Israel thinking she believed one thing about the crisis and politics, but she left realizing that there was more to it all than she realized.

Now, I wanted to share some of the pictures in the two books that show Mike’s Place, as that was the big common denominator in these two books!

From the Graphic Novel Mike’s Place

The above photo is from Mike’s Place, giving you a look at the famous bar. As you can see, this graphic novel is completely black and white.

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less is done in color, and I have a few more pictures to share from that book since it’s not all about Mike’s Place. I wanted to show where it was mentioned!

Title page when Sarah visits Tel Aviv
Mike’s Place
Learning about the bombing at Mike’s Place

I found both of these graphic novels to be fascinating as I honestly don’t know much about Israel. If you’re curious about the country, I do suggest checking out either of these.

Two, Nonfiction Graphic Novels about Israel - #bookreviews on the blog! Click To Tweet

What do you think? Does one or the other stand out to you?

24 responses to “Two Graphic Novels About Israel

  1. I really love graphic novels, and appreciate the many ways they are used to share information. These two both sound so interesting, and I like the art in both. Thank you for sharing!

  2. Jen

    Wow these do look good. Israel is a place I have always wanted to visit. I am intrigued by the locale, the people, and the food! Thanks for sharing these books with us.

  3. RO

    I’ve been learning more and more about different foods and cultures from Netflix, but these seem like a great way to learn even more! Thanks Lauren. Hugs…RO

  4. These both look interesting. I should read one of them to clear up some of my ignorance re: Israel. I’m curious—what is a “birthright trip to Israel?”. I’ve not heard of that phrase before. great reviews, Lauren. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Mike’s Place is one that really appeals to me, especially given the current political climate in the world. The illustrations look wonderful, I like the softness which is a stark contrast considering the storyline sounds confronting. Thanks so much for sharing Lauren, brilliant reviews! <3

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